Trump Administration Proposes FY 2020 Refugee Cap of 18,000

President Donald Trump has proposed a refugee ceiling of 18,000 for fiscal year 2020, which is significantly lower than in previous years. The Acting Director of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Ken Cuccinelli, released a statement on the refugee ceiling [PDF version]. He placed the reduced refugee ceiling in the context of the “anticipated humanitarian workload on all fronts,” which references both the large number of asylum applicants at the southern border and USCIS's significant backlog of affirmative asylum applications. Refugee admissions have been down in recent years due to a variety of factors including reduced refugee caps and increased restrictions on refugee admissions from certain countries [see article].

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